The Next Lab Generation 2026 event in Madrid showcased six innovative and diverse projects, each with its own unique take on storytelling and technology. While artificial intelligence (AI) was a prominent theme, the event also highlighted the importance of human creativity and the limitations of AI in certain contexts. Here's a breakdown of the six finalist pitches, with a focus on the interplay between technology and storytelling, and the insights they offer into the future of animation and film.
Don Quiosker-Man: A Superhero Tale with a Human Touch
One of the most captivating presentations was Don Quiosker-Man, a short film that reimagines Don Quixote as a superhero. The filmmakers, Ariel Muñoz, Xin Ai, Anna Escudero, and Ángel Sánchez, used a combination of CG animation and comic-book-inspired 2D sequences to create a visual language that shifts with the character's unreliable state of mind. While they found Quill to be a more creatively rewarding tool than AI, they ultimately kept only two AI-rendered shots, highlighting the importance of human creativity in the animation process.
Rewind: A Historical Comedy with a Twist
Rewind, a preschool series, takes a unique approach to history by sending two deeply incompetent alien scientists to different points in human history. The series reveals itself as a story about friendship between two complete opposites, with the creators noting that 'sometimes mistakes don't end the story; rather, they get it started.' The team used Quill-built VR dioramas to experiment with different historical settings, but ultimately concluded that AI was less successful in maintaining consistency across an animated sequence.
Sad Mahan: A Videogame Adventure with a Melancholy Twist
Sad Mahan, a stylized videogame adventure, channels frustration over overtourism and the housing crisis in Spain's Canary Islands. The film's melancholy canary protagonist battles armored invaders, rendered in a handcrafted paper-cutout aesthetic. Unlike most participants, the director, Ángel Arce, embraced AI throughout the workshop, but stressed the importance of human control over AI. The project was one of three selected by the jury for top honors.
Taras: A Fantasy Feature with a Deep Connection to Mexican Culture
Taras is a fantasy feature rooted in the landscapes, folklore, and history of Mexico's Michoacán region. The film follows Lucio, a blind boy caught in a brutal ritual, and explores the question of whether fiction is inspired by reality or vice versa. The director, Juan Luis Hernández, praised Quill as the workshop's biggest discovery, while using AI primarily as a finishing tool for lighting and atmosphere.
The Message: A Personal Short about Unresolved Grief
Perhaps the most personal pitch of the event, The Message grew out of a story written by the director's mother as she processed her own complicated relationship with her late father. The resulting short follows a young woman attending her estranged father's funeral before being pulled into a surreal lucha libre-inspired world. The team produced its proof of concept almost entirely in Quill, keeping AI confined to visual experiments and lighting references.
The Shower Club: A Comedy with a Heartwarming Message
The Shower Club, a comedy, begins when a group of older women discovers that the men's locker room at their local swimming pool has better shower controls. The film pairs hand-drawn 2D characters with glossy, porcelain-inspired 3D environments. While the filmmakers used AI to develop and texture the backgrounds and Quill as much as needed, they quickly concluded that only hand-drawn 2D animation would work for their aesthetic. The project generated many laughs and offered a heartwarming message about aging, activism, and friendship.
Insights and Takeaways
The Next Lab Generation 2026 event offers several insights into the future of animation and film. Firstly, it highlights the importance of human creativity and the limitations of AI in certain contexts. While AI can be a useful tool for certain tasks, such as generating individual images or lighting references, it is not a replacement for human creativity and control. Secondly, the event showcases the diverse range of storytelling techniques and technologies being explored in the animation and film industries. From VR dioramas to paper-cutout aesthetics, the event demonstrates the endless possibilities for visual storytelling.
In my opinion, the event also raises a deeper question about the relationship between technology and storytelling. As AI becomes more advanced, will it become a tool for enhancing human creativity, or will it replace human creativity altogether? The event suggests that the answer lies in finding a balance between technology and human creativity, where AI is used as a tool to enhance, rather than replace, the human touch in storytelling. Personally, I think that the future of animation and film lies in embracing the unique strengths of both technology and human creativity, and finding ways to combine them in innovative and meaningful ways.
